• IDRA Newsletter • March 1999

(March 8, 1999 – San Antonio) More than 250 people rallied in support of neighborhood public schools and opposition to school vouchers Saturday. Sponsored by the Coalition for Equity and Excellence in Public Education, community leaders, parents, teachers, children and youth, advocacy organizations, educators and policy makers gathered at Fox Academic and Tech High School where they cheered, “No school vouchers in Texas!”

“Vouchers are not the answer,” said Martha Ortiz a parent advocate who spoke at the rally. “The public system offers an education for all children; the private [system] does not.”

“No voucher could give me better principals, teachers and opportunities than I have now,” said Candie Bocanegra, a student at Memorial High School in Edgewood Independent School District (ISD). “A student’s education should not be gambled for any voucher that is given…The best way to strengthen public schools is to strengthen the public schools.”

The Coalition for Excellence and Equity in Public Education is a San Antonio-based coalition of community organizations and individuals who support the use of public money for neighborhood public schools and who oppose any effort to divert public tax funds to subsidize private education. The group is dedicated to improving neighborhood public schools by helping to channel the community’s support for public education. Several organizations have been involved in the coalition. They include:

  • The Coalition for Public Schools
  • Intercultural Development Research Association (IDRA)
  • Community Relations Council of the Jewish Federation of San Antonio
  • Edgewood Independent School District
  • Families United For Education: Getting Organized [Familias unidas para la educación: ganando organizadas]
  • Grupo de Los Cien, San Antonio
  • Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund
  • San Antonio Independent School District
  • Texas Federation of Teachers
  • Texas Freedom Network
  • Texas State Teachers Association

“I am insulted that voucher proponents think that our communities would be content with something that is restricted, insufficient, and belongs to someone else,” said Dr. María Robledo Montecel, executive director of IDRA. “Neighborhood schools are your schools, and if today, they are restricted or insufficient it is largely because we have had to fight for equity and for our children’s rights at every turn. And if today, your neighborhood schools are not what you want, fight to make them better because they are yours. Private schools are not.”

Speaking for the Greater Corinth Baptist Church and the Baptist Ministers’ Union, Rev. Dr. Carl Johnson told the crowd, “Vouchers reward those who have and penalize those who have not.”

Policy makers and public officials who participated in the rally included U.S. Rep. Charlie Gonzales; State Rep. Art Reyna; State Rep. Juan Solis; State Board of Education member Dr. Joe Bernal; Superintendents Dr. David Splitek (San Antonio ISD), Dr. Rawlinson (Northside ISD) and Dr. Dolores Muñoz (Edgewood ISD); and school board members Mary Esther Bernal (San Antonio ISD), Manuel Garza (Edgewood ISD) and James Howard (San Antonio ISD).

“You don’t improve public schools by making them weaker with vouchers,” commented Rep. Gonzales.

Senator Gregory Luna was unable to attend the rally, but sent a statement that was read aloud by State Rep. Solis: “The performance of Texas public school students has increased over the last decade, especially for our students from low-income families…I have always been committed to strengthening our public schools and holding them accountable for results! I reaffirm that commitment to you today and will continue to oppose any legislation that would harm our children or our public schools. All children deserve access to good schools and we must work together to make our neighborhood schools the best that they can be.”

Reading a statement from the Coalition for Equity and Excellence in Public Education, Zane Chalfant said: “We know that vouchers will not improve our local neighborhood schools. Vouchers jeopardize equity. Vouchers jeopardize school accountability. Vouchers jeopardize the continued existence of neighborhood schools. Most private schools do not have the capacity or capability to absorb large numbers of students with special needs. Our children and our communities deserve better.” Mr. Calfant is the former executive director of Texas PTA.

He concluded: “The Coalition for Equity and Excellence in Public Education knows that the only way to strengthen our public education system in San Antonio and in Texas is to strengthen and support our neighborhood public schools. Education for all, not for the few. We demand excellent neighborhood public schools, and we will fight for them.”

The coalition plans to continue to voice its concerns regarding publicly-funded vouchers and will host another community rally in April.

Contact: Christie L. Goodman, APR, at IDRA (210-444-1710; feedback@idra.org).

Note: Additional information will be available on-line this week at www.idra.org. The information includes copies of the statements by the coalition and Senator Luna, a description of the coalition and its participants, and a list of groups that oppose school vouchers.

IDRA is an independent, non-profit organization, directed by María Robledo Montecel, Ph.D., dedicated to creating schools that work for all children. As a vanguard leadership development and research team for 25 years, IDRA has worked with people to create self-renewing schools that value and empower all children, families and communities. IDRA conducts research and development activities, creates, implements and administers innovative education programs and provides teacher, administrator, and parent training and technical assistance.


Coalition for Equity and Excellence in Public Education Statement (March 6, 1999)

The Coalition for Excellence and Equity in Public Education is a San Antonio-based coalition of community organizations and individuals who support the use of public money for neighborhood public schools and who oppose any effort to divert public tax funds to subsidize private education. The group is dedicated to improving neighborhood public schools by helping to channel the community’s support for public education.

Several organizations have been involved in the coalition. They include:

  • The Coalition for Public Schools
  • Intercultural Development Research Association
  • Community Relations Council of the Jewish Federation of San Antonio
  • Edgewood Independent School District
  • Families United For Education: Getting Organized [Familias unidas para la educación: ganando organizadas]
  • Grupo de Los Cien, San Antonio
  • Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund
  • San Antonio Independent School District
  • Texas Federation of Teachers
  • Texas Freedom Network
  • Texas State Teachers Association

For more than two decades public school advocates struggled so that all students – including those in poorer school districts and including students who are minority or economically disadvantaged – can have high quality neighborhood schools that work for all children. San Antonio is the place where the battle for school equalization in Texas was born with the Rodriguez vs. San Antonio ISD case and the series of Edgewood school funding cases. This community was at the front of what turned out to be a hard and often bitter fight that has continued for 25 years – the fight to assure that children in this and other communities like it would not continue to suffer under a bad and unjust system of financing schools.

Now that we have finally begun to see the fruits of those efforts – just as funding has become more equitable and our public schools have begun to improve – we see a new attack on our neighborhood public schools, an attack being led by voucher proponents. Many of the people who are pushing for private school vouchers are individuals who historically denied our children their support for improved conditions in our local public schools and who opposed state level efforts to equalize school funding.

We know that vouchers will not improve our local neighborhood schools.

  • Vouchers jeopardize equity.
  • Vouchers jeopardize school accountability.
  • Vouchers jeopardize the continued existence of neighborhood schools.
  • Most private schools do not have the capacity or capability to absorb large numbers of students with special needs

Voucher proponents have suggested that we conduct pilot experiments to see how their idea might work in local schools. But they do not intend to experiment in their own neighborhood schools. Instead they want to try out their radical proposals on our neighborhood schools and our local children. Our communities must not serve as places where others conduct experiments that will harm children and will harm neighborhood schools. Our children and our communities deserve better.

The Coalition for Equity and Excellence in Public Education knows that the only way to strengthen our public education system in San Antonio and in Texas is to strengthen and support our neighborhood public schools.

Justice, not charity. Education for all, not for the few. Our children and our public schools have come too far and have too much to do. We cannot quit now. We demand excellent neighborhood public schools, and we will fight for them. We will fight – as we always have – for all of our children.

IDRA is an independent, non-profit organization, directed by María Robledo Montecel, Ph.D., dedicated to creating schools that work for all children. As a vanguard leadership development and research team for 25 years, IDRA has worked with people to create self-renewing schools that value and empower all children, families and communities. IDRA conducts research and development activities, creates, implements and administers innovative education programs and provides teacher, administrator, and parent training and technical assistance.


The following groups and individuals oppose the funneling of public money to private schools through such mechanisms as tuition tax credits and vouchers

Coalition for Equity and Excellence in Public Education Organizations

The Coalition for Public Schools
Intercultural Development Research Association
Community Relations Council of the Jewish Federation of San Antonio
Edgewood Independent School District
Families United For Education: Getting Organized
[Familias unidas para la educación: ganando organizadas]*
Grupo de Los Cien, San Antonio
Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund
San Antonio Independent School District
Texas Federation of Teachers
Texas Freedom Network
Texas State Teachers Association


Coalition for Equity and Excellence in Public Education Individuals

Dr. Joe Bernal, member State Board of Education
Zane Chalfant, former executive director, Texas Parent Teacher Association
María Antonietta Berriozabal
Manuel Garza
Harley Johnson
José García de Lara
Carolina Peña Rodriguez
Corinne Sabo


Additional Texas Organizations

American Civil Liberties Union of Texas
Bexar County Superintendents
Mexican American School Boards Association (MASBA)
San Antonio Chapter of the American Federation of Teachers
San Antonio Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
Texas Association of Mexican American Chambers of Commerce (TAMACC)
Texas Association of Community Schools
Texas Association of School Boards (TASB)
Texas Baptist Christian Life Commission
Texas Counseling Association
Texas Federation of Teachers


National Organizations

AFL-CIO National Executive Council
American Association of School Administrators (AASA)
American Association of University Women (AAUW)
American Ethical Union
American Federation of Teachers (AFT)
American Jewish Committee
Americans for Democratic Action
Americans for Religious Liberty
Americans for Separation of Church and State
Anti-Defamation League of B’nai Brith
Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD)
Baptist Joint Committee on Public Affairs
Council of the Great City Schools (CGCS)
General Conference of The United Methodist Church
Intercultural Development Research Association
League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC)
Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)
National Association of Partners in Education
National Coalition for Public Education
National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW)
National Education Association (NEA)
National Parent Teachers Association (PTA)
National School Boards Association (NSBA)
People for the American Way Action Fund
Religious Liberty Council
Union of American Hebrew Congregations, Religious Action Center
United Automobile Workers of America

* Families United For Education: Getting Organized [Familias unidas para la educación: ganando organizadas] is a Texas network of parents who work together to achieve the best possible education for all students. The network is sponsored by the Intercultural Development Research Association.

Compiled by the Intercultural Development Research Association, March 6, 1999


For Immediate Release

Retention Fails, But Continues to be Promoted

San Antonio (March 4, 1999) – The research on the ineffectiveness of retention is very clear. The effects of retention are harmful, reports a policy brief released today by the Intercultural Development Research Association. Fifty percent of students who repeat a grade do no better the second time, and 25 percent actually do worse. Yet, policy makers are taking a stance against “social promotion” in schools that calls for in-grade retention.

Failing Our Children – Finding Alternatives to In-Grade Retention presents an in-depth look at the issue of in-grade retention (particularly in Texas), reviews research that finds this practice to be ineffective, and outlines alternatives to both retention and social promotion. Key findings include:

  • Retention is strongly associated with dropping out of school in later years. A second retention makes dropping out a virtual certainty.
  • The cost of retaining students in Texas in 1996-97 was $694 million.
  • During 1993 to 1997, retention rates in Texas have steadily risen. In the 1996-97 school year, 147,202 students were retained in grade.
  • Retention rates in Texas for Hispanic students and African American students are over two and a half times higher than the rates of White students.

The policy brief was released today as the Texas legislature considers proposals that would further increase rates of retention. The brief was developed by the IDRA Institute for Policy and Leadership as part of a series on four key issues in education designed to inform community and policy decisions during the Texas legislative session and beyond. Two of the other policy briefs in the series (Missing: Texas Youth – Dropout and Attrition Rates in Texas Public High Schools and Disciplinary Alternative Education Programs in Texas – What is Known; What is Needed) were released in February. The fourth (on the use of public money for private schooling) will be released later in March.

Failing Our Children – Finding Alternatives to In-Grade Retention and the other released policy briefs are on-line at www.idra.org/Research//. Review copies are available to the media by request. Copies are available to the general public for $7 each. Contact: Christie L. Goodman, APR at IDRA, 210-444-1710; feedback@idra.org.

IDRA is an independent, non-profit organization, directed by Marí Robledo Montecel, Ph.D., dedicated to creating schools that work for all children. As a vanguard leadership development and research team for 25 years, IDRA has worked with people to create self-renewing schools that value and empower all children, families and communities. IDRA conducts research and development activities, creates, implements and administers innovative education programs and provides teacher, administrator, and parent training and technical assistance.


Disciplinary Alternative Education Programs in Texas – Faults in the System

San Antonio (February 9, 1999) – Alternative educational programs in Texas are being used as dumping grounds for “undesirable” students who, once there, get little support, reports a policy brief released today by the Intercultural Development Research Association.

Policy makers in state capitals have tried to create ways for schools to deal with violence and criminal behavior. One of the newer methods has been to separate offending students by placing them temporarily in alternative settings where they are supposed to receive personalized support. The Texas legislature established such a policy in 1995 requiring school districts to have an “alternative educational setting for behavioral management.”

Disciplinary Alternative Education Programs in Texas – What is Known; What is Needed examines the details of how this idea has been carried out in Texas. Key findings include:

  • Minority students are over-represented in removals to these alternative programs.
  • The primary reason for the removals involves violations of school districts’ codes of conduct instead of the major offenses in the Texas criminal code.
  • These programs serve more than 90,000 pupils a year and cost millions of state taxpayer dollars. But we know very little of what they do, much less how (or how well) they do it.

The policy brief was released today (along with Missing: Texas Youth – Dropout and Attrition Rates in Texas Public High Schools) on the occasion of the Mexican American Legislative Caucus education conference, “Who Speaks for the Children?” in Austin. The brief was developed by the IDRA Institute for Policy and Leadership as part of a series on four key issues in education designed to inform community and policy decisions during the Texas legislative session and beyond. The other policy briefs in the series – on in-grade retention and the use of public money for private schooling – will be released later in February.

Disciplinary Alternative Education Programs in Texas – What is Known; What is Needed is on-line at www.idra.org/Research/Research.htm/. Contact: Christie L. Goodman, APR at IDRA, 210-444-1710; feedback@idra.org.

IDRA is an independent, non-profit organization dedicated to creating schools that work for all children. As a vanguard leadership development and research team, IDRA works with people to create self-renewing schools that value and empower all children, families and communities. IDRA conducts research and development activities, creates, implements and administers innovative education programs and provides teacher, administrator, and parent training and technical assistance.


$319 Billion and 1.2 Million Students Lost

San Antonio (February 9, 1999) – Contrary to what some people would like to think, the state of Texas is still failing an unbelievable number of its youth, reports a policy brief released today by the Intercultural Development Research Association. Two out of every five students (42 percent) enrolled in the ninth grade during the 1994-95 school year failed to reach and-or complete the 12th grade in 1997-98.

Missing: Texas Youth – Dropout and Attrition Rates in Texas Public High Schools presents an in-depth look at the dropout issue in Texas. It is presented against a backdrop of the 1986 legislation that mandated schools and the state education agency ensure that at least 95 percent of Texas’ youth receive their high school diplomas. This policy brief also provides some answers to keeping students in school and recommendations which, if followed, will provide the “real” numbers of students missing from our schools. Key findings include:

  • More than 1.2 million students have been lost from Texas public schools to attrition from 1985-86 to 1997-98.
  • The state of Texas loses $319 billion in foregone income, lost tax revenues and increased criminal justice, welfare, unemployment and job training costs.
  • More than 100,000 Texas youth did not receive their high school diplomas last year, yet they were not counted as dropouts.

The policy brief was released today (along with Disciplinary Alternative Education Programs in Texas – What is Known; What is Needed) on the occasion of the Mexican American Legislative Caucus education conference, “Who Speaks for the Children?” in Austin. The brief was developed by the IDRA Institute for Policy and Leadership as part of a series on four key issues in education designed to inform community and policy decisions during the Texas legislative session and beyond. The other policy briefs in the series – on in-grade retention and the use of public money for private schooling – will be released later in February.

Missing: Texas Youth – Dropout and Attrition Rates in Texas Public High Schools is on-line at
http://www.idra.orgresearch_articles/education-policy-briefs/.


Contact: Christie L. Goodman, APR at IDRA, 210-444-1710; feedback@idra.org.


IDRA is an independent, non-profit organization dedicated to creating schools that work for all children. As a vanguard leadership development and research team, IDRA works with people to create self-renewing schools that value and empower all children, families and communities. IDRA conducts research and development activities, creates, implements and administers innovative education programs and provides teacher, administrator, and parent training and technical assistance.


[©1999, IDRA. This article originally appeared in the March 1999 IDRA Newsletter by the Intercultural Development Research Association. Permission to reproduce this article is granted provided the article is reprinted in its entirety and proper credit is given to IDRA and the author.]

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